Dust collection structure for vacuum cleaners

Abstract

 An improved dust collection structure for vacuum cleaners located outside a suction body (10) of a vacuum cleaner includes a suction member (22) which has an air vent (222) and a suction duct (15) to suck targeted articles through an airflow generated by the suction body (10). The suction member (22) further has a detent portion (221) to block the targeted articles from entering a holding member (21). Thus larger articles can be filtered out and removed outside the suction body (10).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an improved dust collection structure for vacuum cleaners and particularly to a dust collection structure adopted for use on a vacuum cleaner capable of generating a strong suction airflow to suck filthy articles such as dusts for cleaning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Vacuum cleaner is an indispensable cleaning tool in the household appliances. The vacuum cleaner has a suction body to generate a strong suction airflow. The suction body contains a dust collection member and is coupled with a hollow duct. The duct has one end coupling with a suction head. The suction airflow can suck targeted articles through the suction head and the duct to the dust collection member. To do clearing after vacuuming, the dust collection member has to be detached from the suction body to remove the targeted articles held in the dust collection member.

[0003] The vacuum cleaners now on the market can be divided into dry vacuum cleaners and wet vacuum cleaners. To generate a strong suction airflow is one of their main features. As the targeted articles to be collected not only include dusts, also include debris of cookies, wooden chips, paper clips, small screws and nails, tacks, and even larger objects such as broken glasses. The dry vacuum cleaner generally has a non-woven dust bag. It is easily damaged by sharp objects contained in the sucking articles. The sharp objects also often hurt people during clearing of the dust bag due to differentiating of them are difficult. For the wet vacuum cleaner, the sucking articles of larger size often form clogging. As the wet vacuum cleaner has a filter trough to collect the articles, double filtering has to be done after the water in the filter trough is emptied to prevent pollution to the environment. All this is troublesome to users.

[0004] Dust collection structures for vacuum cleaners are known in the art. References can be founded in U.S. patent Nos. 4876763, 5669946, 6195835 B1, 6398834 B2, 6521006 B2, 6530118 B2, 6562093 B2, 6732406 B2, 6766557 B2, 6782583 B2, 6824580 B2, 6833015 B2, 6857165 B2 and 6883248 B2, and U. S. patent publication Nos. 2002/0062632A1, 2002/0066262A1, 2003/0159235A1, 2003/0167590A1, 2003/0167591A1, 2004/0098828A1, 2004/0107530A1, 2004/016326A1, 2004/0200029A1 and 2004/0237248A1. They mostly have a centrifugal structure to separate the sucking articles, and are costly to fabricate. They also are easily clogged by larger sucking articles.

[0005] Refer to FIG. 1 for a conventional wet vacuum cleaner that contains water for filtering. It is quite bulky. It has only one filer chamber in the suction body. When water content is smaller, sucking airflow tends to splash the water violently and result in not effective bonding of the sucking articles. Although it has a spacer in the suction body, it aims to prevent the water from being carried away by the airflow. If the water content increases, the filter room is larger and cannot generate a desired oscillating water splash. In the event that the airflow is strong enough to generate the oscillating water splash, the water splash is too close to where the suction airflow is generated, and some of the filter water will be carried away and dispelled. This causes pollution to the environment. And an extra work of wiping the spilled water has to be done. It creates a lot of inconveniences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Therefore the primary object of the present invention is to solve the aforesaid disadvantages. The present invention provides a dust collection structure for vacuum cleaners that is located outside the suction body of a vacuum cleaner and coupled with a suction duct. The dust collection structure includes a holding member and a suction member which has a detent portion and an air vent. The suction body can generate airflow which passes through the air vent and the suction duct to suck targeted articles. The sucked articles are blocked by the detent portion to drop into the holding member. Hence lager articles can be filtered out and removed outside the suction body.

[0007] Another object of the invention is to provide a handle dock between the suction member and the suction duct to facilitate operation of the vacuum cleaner.

[0008] A further object of the invention is to provide a small water filter vacuum cleaner to filter targeted articles more effectively. The invention adopts a centralized filtering method to generate oscillating moisture to effectively trap the targeted articles. The suction body has a dust collection chamber which has a dust collection member containing filtering water. The dust collection member includes a dust collection dock and an upper cap. The dust collection dock has a filter space and an airflow space that are divided and communicate with each other. The airflow space has an air duct communicating with the filter space. The suction body has a suction means to generate suction airflow to suck the targeted articles through the air duct into the filter space, and also generate oscillating moisture to trap the targeted articles. Cleaned air is sucked through the upper cap and a guiding member of the suction means that passes through the upper cap and the suction means to the suction means to form a discharged airflow to be dispelled through an air outlet.

[0009] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] 

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional wet vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the dust collection structure of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the dust collection structure of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the dust collection structure of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the suction body of the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are exploded views of the dust collection member of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the airflow direction in the suction body of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 for the vacuum cleaner and a dust collection structure 20 of the present invention. The vacuum cleaner has a suction body 10 to generate suction airflow. The suction body 10 is coupled with a hollow suction duct 15 and has a dust collection member 30. The dust collection structure 20 is located outside the suction body 10 and coupled with the suction duct 15. The dust collection structure 20 includes a holding member 21 made from a transparent or translucent material and a suction member 22 which has a detent portion 221 and an air vent 222. The holding member 21 and the suction member 22 have respectively an anchor hole 214 and an anchor member 225 that are engageable with each other. The holding member 21 further has a housing chamber 211 and two opening ends. One opening end is coupled with the suction member 22 and other opening end has a suction port 212 to suck targeted articles. Referring to FIG. 2, the suction port 212 may be coupled with a suction head 16 and has a nozzle 213 extending towards the detent portion 221. The detent portion 221 is located on a front end of the suction member 22 corresponding to the nozzle 213 and has a concave perimeter with the air vent 222 formed thereon. There is a handle dock 23 located between the suction member 22 and the suction duct 15 to facilitate user operation. The handle dock 23 has coupling ports 231 and 232 to couple with the suction member 22 and the suction duct 15.

[0012] Referring to FIG. 5, when in use, the suction body 10 generates a strong suction airflow. As the suction duct 15, handle dock 23, suction member 22 and holding member 21 communicate with one another, the strong airflow sucks the targeted articles through the suction port 212. If the suction port 212 is coupled with the suction head 16 as shown in FIG. 2, the targeted articles are sucked through the suction head 16, suction port 212, nozzle 213 into the holding member 21. Smaller articles such as dusts enter directly the dust collection member 30 in the suction body 10 through the air vent 222. Larger articles such as cookie debris, wooden chips, paper clippers, small screws and nails, tacks, broken glass and the like are blocked by the detent portion 221 and drop into the housing chamber 211 of the holding member 21. Through the transparent or translucent holding member 21, users can easily see whether the housing chamber 211 is filled with the sucking articles and determine if clearing is needed. To clear the sucking articles, separate the holding member 21 and the suction member 22 by disengaging the anchor hole 214 and the anchor member 225, then the contained articles can be removed easily. Hence the cleared articles can be classified easily. The dust collection member 30 contained the smaller articles also is less likely to be damaged as the conventional one does. Users also are less likely to be hurt during clearing the dust collection member 30.

[0013] Refer to FIGS. 6 and 7 for a wet vacuum cleaner that filters with water. The suction body 10 is openable and has a suction means 11 to generate suction airflow and dispel the airflow, and an air outlet 12 communicating with the suction means 11 to dispel the airflow. The suction means 11 may consist of a motor and an air fan as the conventional one does. The suction body 10 has a dust collection chamber 13 inside and air suction port 14 coupling with the suction duct 15.

[0014] Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the dust collection chamber 13 has a guiding member 40 and a dust collection member 30. The guiding member 40 includes a first airflow passage which has a first air vent 41 on one end to couple with the suction member 11 and a second air vent 42 on other end. The guiding member 40 further has a filter 43 located in the first airflow passage between the first and second air vents 41 and 42. The duct collection member 30 has a hollow dust collection dock 31 which holds filtering water and an upper cap 32 coupling with the dust collection dock 31. The upper cap 32 consists of two half shells that oppose each other and has a second airflow passage inside. The second airflow passage has a third air vent 321 on one end coupling with the second air vent 42 and a fourth air vent 322 on other end coupling with the air suction port 14. The dust collection dock 31 is divided by a spacer 318 to form a filter space 311 and an airflow space 312 that communicate with each other. The airflow space 312 has a hollow air duct 313 which has one end coupling with the fourth air vent 322 and other end leading to the filter space 311. Referring to FIG. 9, the air duct 313 and the filter space 311 are bridged by an airflow seat 314. The filter space 311 contains a filter means which includes a base 315 with filter pores 3151 formed thereon, a filter fabric 316 located on the base 315, and a lid 317 coupled on the base 315 that has air ventilation vents 3171 formed thereon. The third air vent 321 of the upper cap 32 further has a guarding member 33 which has a hollow holding body 331 to hold a harness member 332 to seal the third air vent 321. In the event that the water level in the filter space 311 exceeds a selected height, and a suction airflow is generated, the harness member 332 can balance the sucking airflow. In the event that the sucking airflow does not generate oscillating moisture to form a smooth airflow, the harness member 332 is lifted by the sucking airflow to close the third air vent 321 so that users can be noticed and immediately close. Thus the problem of water spilling caused by excessive sucking airflow happened to the conventional wet vacuum cleaner can be prevented in the invention, and pollution of the spilling water can be avoided.

[0015] The larger articles are blocked by the dust collection structure 20 without entering. Only the smaller articles enter the suction body 10 through the suction duct 15. Also referring to FIG. 9, the targeted articles enter the dust collection member 30 through the air suction port 14. As the sucking airflow already generates oscillating moisture in the filter space 311, the air duct 313 and airflow seat 314 also have a slight oscillating moisture. The smaller articles such as dusts can be trapped by the oscillating moisture in the air duct 313, airflow seat 314 and filter space 311. A small amount of articles that are not trapped by the oscillating moisture are trapped by the filter means. Clean air flows through the airflow space 312 via the third air vent 321 and second air vent 42 into the first airflow passage. The filter 43 in the guiding member 40 can further filter the air. And the air flows through the first airflow passage via the first air vent 41 to the suction means 11 to become clean air to be discharged through the air outlet 12.

[0016] While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An improved dust collection structure for a vacuum cleaner which has a suction body (10) to generate a suction airflow and a suction duct (15) coupling and communicating with the suction body (10), the dust collection structure being located outside the suction body (10) and coupled with the suction duct (15) and comprising:

a holding member (21) and a suction member (22) which has a detent portion (221) and an air vent (222), the suction airflow generated by the suction body (10) passing through the air vent (222) and the suction duct (15) to suck targeted articles which are blocked by the detent portion (221) to drop into the holding member (21).

2. The improved dust collection structure of claim 1, wherein the holding member (21) has a housing chamber (211) and two opening ends, one opening end being coupled with the suction member (22) and other opening end having a suction port (212).

3. The improved dust collection structure of claim 1 or 2, wherein the suction port (212) has a nozzle (213) extending towards the detent portion (221).

4. The improved dust collection structure of claims 1 to 3, wherein the holding member (21) and the suction member (22) have respectively an anchor hole (214) and an anchor member (225) engageable with each other.

5. The improved dust collection structure of claims 1 to 4, wherein the detent portion (221) is located on a front end of the suction member (22) and has a concave perimeter, the air vent (222) being formed on the peripheral surface of the detent portion (221).

6. The improved dust collection structure of claim 1 to 5, wherein the suction member (22) and the suction duct (15) are bridged by a handle dock (23) which has coupling ports (231, 232) to couple with the suction member (22) and the suction duct (15).

7. The improved dust collection structure of claim 1 to 6, wherein the suction body (10) has a suction means (11) to generate the suction airflow and a discharge airflow, an air outlet (12) communicating with the suction means (11) to dispel the discharge airflow, a dust collection chamber (13) located inside, an air suction port (14) communicating with the dust collection chamber (13) and coupling with the suction duct (15), and a guiding member (40) which has a first airflow passage which has a first air vent (41) on one end to couple with the suction means (11) and a second air vent (42) on another end, the dust collection chamber (13) having a dust collection member (30) which includes a hollow dust collection dock (31) to hold filtering water and an upper cap (32) coupling with the dust collection dock, the upper cap (32) having a second airflow passage which has a third air vent (321) on one end to couple with the second air vent (42) and a fourth air vent (322) on other end to couple with the air suction port (14), the dust collection dock (31) being divided by a spacer (318) to form a filter space (311) and an airflow space (312) that communicate with each other, the airflow space (312) having a hollow air duct (313) which has one end coupling with the fourth air vent (322) and other end communicating with the filter space (311).

8. The improved dust collection structure of claim 7, wherein the first airflow passage of the guiding member (40) has a filter (43).

9. The improved dust collection structure of claim 7 or 8, wherein the filter space (311) has a filter means.

10. The improved dust collection structure of claim 9, wherein the filter means includes a base (315) which has filter pores (3151), a filter fabric (316) located on the base (315) and a lid (317) coupling on the base (315) that has air ventilation vents (3171).

11. The improved dust collection structure of claims 7 to 10, wherein the third air vent (321) on the upper cap (32) is coupled with a guarding member (33) which includes a hollow holding body (331) for holding a harness member (332) to seal the third air vent (321).

12. The improved dust collection structure of claims 7 to 11, wherein the air duct (313) and the filter space (311) are bridged by an airflow seat (314).

Drawing